After receiving two design advice hearings, one for design review was enough for a proposed 159-unit affordable housing project in the Gateway District.

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday voted 6-0 to approve plans for a four-story, 90,940-square-foot building at 9747 N.E. Glisan St. The developer is Northwest Housing Alternatives, a Milwaukie-based nonprofit responsible in recent years for bringing online a host of new affordable housing projects across the state.

“This project has done a really good job of developing itself through the (design advice and review) process,” Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said. “The density is a little higher in the context, but the Gateway neighborhood is changing radically, and this could be the type of project that changes the context. It’s an incredibly difficult site with a difficult program, but it does a good job, on balance, of meeting the context guidelines.”

Designed by MWA Architects, the Glisan Apartments will be built across three tax lots stretching between Glisan and Irving streets, east of the Gateway Transit Center. The long, relatively narrow site brought about a design providing four stories of workforce housing with two distinct wings at the north and south ends. The street frontage will feature gable ends with steep pitched roofing, while the building’s cladding will be a mix of brick and cement fiber. Courtyards will decorate both wings’ west side, which faces an existing pedestrian path that will gain new landscaping.

Programming will include primarily one-bedroom and studio apartments that will be made available to individuals making 60 percent or less of the regional median family income. In addition, 7,000 square feet of community space will occupy the ground floor with floor-to-ceiling glazing.

The project is being financed through the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services and their LIFT program, as well as Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

One of the few complaints from local residents is the lack of parking included. Like many other mixed-use and residential developments in recent years, the Glisan Apartments will sit on property zoned RX for central residential. This designation does not require that parking be included for projects of this nature, but that did not sit well with Tom Beeman, who lives in the Gateway Arbors condominiums nearby.

“I can clearly testify, although I have no separate evidence on me, to the incredible lack of current on-street parking in that neighborhood due to the residents and the Gateway Transit Center,” he told the commission.

While somewhat sympathetic, commissioners told Beeman there was little they could do to change current zoning regulations.

“You are a member of an extremely large club in the city of Portland that feels the same way you do,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “But it’s not our purview. And it’s unfortunate the city is changing and getting more dense, and we’re moving from a time where we used to feel as owners of homes that the parking space in front of our homes was ours. That’s gone, but your path to be heard should be clear.”

From here, Northwest Housing Alternatives will now be able to complete the design process and submit a land use application.

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Northwest Housing Alternatives is proposing to build a four-story, 149-unit workforce housing structure in Portland’s Gateway area.

According to a city Request for Response issued last month, applicants MWA Architects and owner representative The Bookin Group LLC are proposing to build the project at 9745 N.E. Glisan St. – currently three tax lots and the site of a 1,624-square-foot duplex built in 1912. The owner is listed as Gateway Affordable LLC, a West Linn-based corporation dedicated to affordable housing projects.

As submitted, the project would feature a new four-story, 90,000-square-foot structure with a bi-color exterior made of brick, fiber cement panels, fiberglass windows and aluminum storefronts. There would be surface parking for 10 vehicles accessible via Northeast Irving Street. It also would have 7,000 square feet of ground-floor space dedicated to community rooms, administrative offices and bike storage.

The plan is proposed to serve tenants with incomes of 60 percent or less than the regional median. Funding is coming from the Portland Housing Bureau, low-income housing tax credits and loans from the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing.

A design review hearing before the Portland Design Commission is scheduled for Sept. 20.

More information is available at: .

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A series of major projects planned for the Gateway area of Northeast Portland would combine housing for seniors and workers, an elementary school, parking, retail space and potentially other amenities.

The city and its economic development organization, Prosper Portland, are working to bring together David Douglas School District, Mt. Hood Community College, Warner Pacific University and private landowners to build what officials hope will be an anchor for Gateway.

The 10.5-acre Gateway project, envisioned for property at Northeast 102nd Avenue and Pacific Street, would encompass two roughly 5-acre parcels – one owned by the school district and another owned by a partnership of developer Ted Gilbert and the principals of Generations, a Portland-based senior housing provider.

The proposed development involves complicated discussions among several players. The driving force is Generations principal Chip Gabriel. Generations, based in an office near Clackamas Town Center, owns and operates five senior communities in Oregon, Washington and California totaling 1,668 housing units.

Gabriel grew up in Gateway at 111th Avenue and Market Street, and attended Portland Adventist Academy in the neighborhood. His mother still lives in the area.

“I know the area really well and watched the transformation for better or worse over the years,” he said. “It’s had its challenges the last couple of decades.”

Generations also owns and operates a retirement community, CherryWood Village, in the neighborhood. Gabriel believes there’s a need for more mid-market senior housing in the area. “I’m very familiar with the need and the demand,” he said.

Gabriel is planning an approximately 300-unit senior housing community on the property that would come with a retail component. There’s room on the same property for workforce housing, he said.

Prosper Portland and Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office are weighing whether to devote the entire remaining balance of Gateway urban renewal area dollars – totaling $13 million – to the project. Backers of the Gateway plan believe they have Wheeler’s support.

“Having the mayor and Prosper Portland there to shepherd the process is going to be critical,” Gabriel said.

The mayor’s office did not respond to messages seeking comment. But Wheeler showed up to a community meeting in July and pledged his support for the project, according to a report in the Mid-County Memo, a neighborhood newspaper.

Time is running short for Gateway’s URA: The urban renewal district expires in June 2022. The city must commit the remaining money before that date, and officials want to use it as leverage on projects that are likely to spur private development in the surrounding area.

The city has poured money into Gateway in recent years with Gateway Discovery Park, affordable housing, streetscape improvements, a new trail and other infrastructure in addition to the Gateway Transit Center – a major transportation hub.

“Activating the area will encourage other private investment,” said Susan Kuhn, a project manager at Prosper Portland.

The parties hope the project will galvanize development in Gateway “toward the idea of an intergenerational mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented district,” Gilbert said.

The private senior housing development is on a faster track than other projects planned for the area. David Douglas School District has long-term plans to build an elementary school on its 5-acre parcel, but it is likely a ways off. The district has not identified funding or established a timeline for the project.

“Our intention is to build on our land eventually,” said Dan McCue, spokesman for David Douglas.

District officials have been in discussions with stakeholders, McCue said.

“We have been in talks with the surrounding property owners just in terms of what’s a fit,” he said.

Gabriel said he’s interested in having educational facilities next to Generations’ planned senior housing community.

“What seniors don’t want to be is with other seniors,” he said. “They love the security, the activities, the amenities – they just want to be with younger people.”

Likewise, McCue said, schoolchildren could benefit from being near seniors.

“Our kids could certainly benefit from older folks,” he said.

There have been discussions of a so-called “2 + 2 + 2” program that would allow students to spend two years in high school, two years in community college and two years in a four-year college, with the credits seamlessly transferring through the three institutions.

“It’s a way to help young people get into and through college more efficiently and cost-effectively,” Gilbert said.

YMCA has also been involved in discussions about a possible fitness center at the site.

Generations found success with a property in San Diego that included a 50,000-square-foot commercial center that brought in visitors of different ages.

“It’s been very well received down there,” Gabriel said. “What we’re hoping to do in Gateway is really the next evolution of that.”

To that end, Generations hopes to leverage the URA funds. Without them, the Generations project may not be economically viable, Gabriel said.

“The challenge that we’ve come across (is) to do a rental community in Gateway, our construction costs are the same they are in the Pearl District or the South Waterfront,” he said. “The construction costs are high, and we can’t get rents you can get elsewhere in the community.”

Advocates of the projects are clear-eyed about the challenges, including rising construction costs, scarce financing and Gateway’s history of slow economic investment – as well as wrangling several different public institutions and private interests toward a common end.

“While we’ve come quite a distance, there is still quite a bit more to do before we know the project will happen,” Gilbert said.

Elementary school project being discussed

A proposal by the David Douglas School District to build a new, five-story elementary school in Portland’s Gateway area was discussed at a pre-application conference last month.

According to Bureau of Development Services records, BBL Architects of Lake Oswego is the applicant for the proposed school project, which would be built on property comprised of six separate tax lots zoned CX for central commercial use at 725 N.E. 100th Ave.

The new school would displace an existing vacant building, according to PortlandMaps.com, but the tax lots in question are otherwise undeveloped or part of an ex-Elks parking lot.

Conceptual site plans show the new school and adjacent soccer field would be next to the Gateway Regional Center, a three-block long site stretching from Northeast 99th to 102nd Avenue. That proposed development would see possibly three mixed-use buildings built alongside an assisted living and skilled nursing facility.

Drawings show the new school would face Northeast 99th Avenue at the intersection with Irving Street. An underground parking garage would provide 70 spaces to supplement 15 surface parking spaces.

More information is available at: . – Josh Kulla

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An affordable housing project proposed for the Gateway area, in Northeast Portland, appears well on its way to approval after a largely positive reception from design commissioners on Thursday.

Northwest Housing Alternatives, a Milwaukie affordable housing organization, is calling for 157 apartment units for residents at 60 percent or below the Portland area’s median family income. The apartments would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom configurations.

The Portland Design Commission held a second design advice meeting for the project Thursday that continued from an initial meeting Nov. 30.

The four-story building would be constructed at 9747 N.E. Glisan St. and encompass 90,940 square feet. The 1-acre property is bordered by Glisan Street and Irving Street, a low-density residential street. To the east of the site is 99th Avenue; to the west are MAX light-rail tracks and Interstate 205.

The property was most recently purchased in 2006 for $941,280, according to public records.

A new pedestrian path would need to pass behind the building as part of a city requirement intended to improve circulation in large blocks in Gateway.

“The blocks are huge,” said Grace Jeffreys, a planner with the Bureau of Development Services. “This is just a location where there’s a requirement for a pedestrian path.”

The property would also have a community garden.

Design commissioners pushed for an enlarged entrance to the building and better articulation of some of the exterior materials. Planned building materials include brick, metal panels and fiber cement.

Design commissioner Sam Rodriguez said the building’s street frontages were much improved. “It has a whimsical quality that works well, and it didn’t before,” he said. “I think it’s really good.”

The design led by Bill Lanning of MWA Architects features a gabled roof. It has two long sides facing I-205 and the pedestrian path. At the first design advice meeting, commissioners urged Lanning to find ways to break up the mass on the two long sides that stretch approximately 384 feet.

On Thursday, design commissioners said they were pleased with the overall plan.

“It’s really close,” Tad Savinar said.

Design changes have reduced the number of apartments from 160 to 157 since the first design advice meeting. The project would also offer 10 parking spaces and two loading spaces.

The project team agreed to raise the height of the first floor to the city’s 12-foot minimum to aid the function of the ground-floor canopy.

A narrow, 6-foot building entrance attracted the attention of commissioners, who feared it would be too small for residents to use for practical purposes like putting on their shoes.

“Entry is super tight,” Commissioner Julie Livingston said. “If people are going to be standing there waiting for their ride, there just needs to be more room to stand there and be.”

Plans call for 99 studio units, 51 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units. They would range from 350 square feet to 795 square feet, with 11 built to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

The Northwest Housing Alternatives project would be the first in the area that would come with a required pedestrian path. Lanning asked the Design Commission if there should be consistent standards for lighting and other aspects. The paths would not be continuous throughout the neighborhood, but confined to each property.

The project will return for a design review hearing in coming weeks. As of Thursday, no date was set yet.

Walsh Construction is serving as general contractor.

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On a sunny day in May 2016, city leaders gathered at the future site of Gateway Discovery Park to celebrate breaking ground on a new community asset in the long-neglected East Portland neighborhood. The 3.2-acre park, now under construction, will offer amenities including a plaza, a skate park, lawn space and performance space. It is slated to open in the spring.

An adjacent mixed-use building from Gerding Edlen and Human Solutions will bring retail, office and apartment space.

The projects are among the most visible improvements in Gateway, where an urban renewal area was established in 2001. The URA expires in 2022. As time runs short to fund improvements in the area, city officials are working to invest the urban-renewal dollars in ways that lay the groundwork for later private development.

Public infrastructure is expected to come online in 2018. The park’s opening will be followed by a Portland Bureau of Transportation streetscape improvement project on Northeast Halsey and Weidler streets from 102nd Avenue to 114th Avenue. Construction on the streetscape project is anticipated to begin in spring or summer 2018.

Susan Kuhn, Prosper Portland‘s project manager for the Gateway area, said she’s noticed a recent uptick in calls from developers who are interested in opportunities in the Gateway area.

Real estate activity has also accelerated, said Fred Sanchez, a commercial broker in the area for more than three decades.

“The last two, three years, it has been absolutely the best years that we have ever seen, and we’ve been doing this since 1979,” he said.

Sanchez’s Realty Property has a waiting list for space at 111th Square, a shopping center at Northeast 111th Avenue and Halsey Street. All 16 of the center’s retail spaces are occupied.

“It is the hottest demand for rental spaces that we’ve ever seen,” Sanchez said. “If I had another space for 16 businesses, I’d be able to fill it.”

Gateway is home to a diverse community of people of color and recent immigrants and refugees. As with other Portland neighborhoods, residents fear being displaced by gentrification.

Prosper Portland’s Gateway Action Plan, adopted in 2016, calls for $20 million in investments in the urban renewal area, which encompasses 658 acres. City officials are eager to support small businesses along the Halsey and Weidler corridors.

Officials at the economic development agency point to Lents as a model, where three towering construction cranes are at work on various projects.

“I think there’s more coming to the Gateway area,” Kuhn said. “Obviously, in Lents there’s been a tremendous amount, and we’ll see more of that in Gateway too.”

The Gerding Edlen-Human Solutions project at Northeast 106th Avenue and Halsey Street will feature 75 apartments, with 35 at market rate and 40 affordable to families at or below 60 percent of area median income. Construction is expected to start in 2019.

In the design by Holst Architecture, ground-floor retail space will front the park’s plaza and Halsey Street. The second floor will host commercial space.

Another multifamily project has been proposed at 9747 N.E. Glisan Street. MWA Architects recently requested a pre-application conference for a four-story, 161-unit workforce housing development with 3,500 square feet of residential and community space.

The owner, Gateway Affordable LLC, is an entity connected to Walsh Construction executives John Wied, Robert Walsh and Matt Leeding. A spokeswoman for Walsh Construction said the executives were out for the holidays and not available to comment.

Officials with Gateway Baptist Church, at 13300 N.E. San Rafael Street, have sought city approval of a 2,717-square-foot addition. Myhre Group Architects is designing the project.

An urban winery, with a tasting room and production facilities, has been proposed for 10414 N.E. Halsey St. Currently, the small two-story building is a hardware store. Minor upgrades to the upstairs apartment are planned.

David Douglas School District also owns several undeveloped parcels in the URA, including land that formerly belonged to an Elks lodge. The Elks organization sold the property to the school district in 2015 for $3.8 million.

Recent projects in the neighborhood include Russellville Commons, Glisan Commons and the Oregon Clinic.

Gateway has plentiful retail, with Fred Meyer and WinCo Foods serving as anchors. It’s also well served by transit, with easy access from interstates 205 and 84 and three MAX light-rail lines.

However, the area has infrastructure challenges too, including limited infrastructure for bicyclists and areas with no sidewalks. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is planning a batch of projects known collectively as “Gateway to Opportunity” to address those issues. The Halsey-Weidler streetscape project is expected to wrap up in winter 2018-19. Other projects include overcrossing improvements at I-205 and Halsey Street, reconfiguration of Northeast 102nd Avenue from Weidler Street to Fremont Street and reconfiguration of Glisan Street from 102nd Avenue to the city limits. PBOT is also focusing on connections for walking and bicycling across I-205 and I-84.

Prosper Portland also is looking to implement the Gateway Action Plan to spur private investment. Major aspects of the action plan include:

• backing additional mixed-income housing projects in the Gateway area,
• improving circulation near Gateway Transit Center,
• lowering floor-area ratio requirements to encourage private development, and
• creating a bike connection project (led by PBOT) to provide consistent bike transportation along Tillamook, Halsey, Oregon and Pacific streets.

Prosper Portland has made other small investments, including a façade improvement program that has freshened appearances at businesses along Halsey and Weidler streets. The agency also controls a $5 million opportunity fund to be used on Gateway area projects.

Sanchez said he’ll be watching to make sure local agencies maintain the improvements they make. If so, he said, “I’m very optimistic about the future for the area.”

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Portland’s new bike-centered amenity, Gateway Green, represents a bit of a paradox. The 25-acre parcel is highly visible, wedged as it is between two well-traveled interstate highways in East Portland. But park booster Linda Robinson acknowledges there’s a problem.

“People can’t find it,” said Robinson, a Friends of Gateway Green (FoGG) board member. “People can’t even find the bike path to get there.”

This became obvious to Robinson early in the park’s , when she would arrange meetings with other stakeholders at the parcel, and they’d consistently get lost trying to reach it. The park is accessible only via a spur off the Interstate 205 multiuse path, and the nearest one can park a vehicle is the Gateway transit center a quarter-mile away.

So now, local design firm Propel Studio is finalizing concepts for a package of wayfinding and signage options for the Gateway neighborhood, to help bicyclists – plus residents – find the off-road facility. The 4-year-old firm’s work is being paid for by a $50,000 Prosper Portland grant.

And it’s not just the park. The entire business district is difficult for outsiders to locate, said Tom Badrick, a FoGG board member.

“If you hop on light rail and get off at the Gateway transit center, you can’t find anything from there,” he said. “Nothing is obvious.”

Also, with a shortage of public streets, is difficult to navigate, according to Badrick. He remembers shopping at the old Fred Meyer store – more open-air promenade than big-box – as a child growing up in Gateway. He moved back eight years ago and has been involved with a number of community groups, including the Gateway Area Business Association.

“Some areas are different, but some areas, it just seems like time stood still,” he said. “Still, it’s not very pedestrian-friendly. It used to be a lot more pedestrian-friendly.”

But before Propel could address signage in Gateway and the issue of directing people to Gateway Green, it first had to tackle another, broader issue, according to partner Lucas Gray.

“It’s hard to design signage and wayfinding if there’s no overarching logos, texts, fonts, colors, etc. to work from,” he said. “So we started to think big picture – what is the identity of the Gateway district?”

The Gateway area was founded by Fred Meyer himself. Continually trying to evade city regulations, the one-stop-shopping innovator in 1954 established a new shopping center amid the orchards east of Portland. Included in the design was a prominent arch, like a scaled-down version of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch.

Suburban sprawl continued for the next five decades, and the Gateway arch was taken down in 1991 due to deterioration. Gateway’s location at the confluence of two interstates and with easy access to downtown and the Portland International Airport continue to make it a target for development; however, zoning requirements challenge developers, and connectivity and access to parks challenge residents.

Gateway was designated one of seven regional urban centers in the Metro 2040 Growth Concept planning document, with the area scheduled to receive millions of dollars’ worth of transit and highway improvements in the coming years.

Young people who settle in East Portland, priced out of hipper neighborhoods, still expect urban amenities like reliable transit and fine dining. Propel Studio’s work crafting signs for Gateway Green has involved striking a balance between old and new, Gray said, and a big sticking point has become the arch.

“Some of the older business owners think of the arch as this really iconic thing, and they are really interested in having that image restored and prevalent in the identity of the area,” Gray said. “And there’s the younger people – and some of the older people – who want it to be a little bit more progressive, and for us to forget the arch. It’s not there anymore and it’s not relevant to the future of the district.”

Most of the aesthetic options Propel has created reference the arch by varying degrees. One option features an arch carved out – or “subtracted” – from a larger space. However, some options leave out the arch altogether.

Funding has yet to be secured for fabrication and installation, and it’s possible the final branding won’t match Propel’s ideas. But incorporating branding into architecture is an exciting, emerging field, according to Gray, and it’s the sort of work Propel would like to do more of.

For the Gateway area, Propel envisions three tiers of “intervention.” The first is a large-scale object that would function as a mix of community meeting point, art installation and simple shelter, similar to the Jorge Pardo-designed streetcar stop at the east end of the Broadway Bridge.

“It hasn’t been 100-percent defined,” Gray said.

The structure might contain bike-friendly amenities, like a tire air pump. The cost for this level of intervention is estimated to run around $100,000 each.

The next tier down would involve medium-scale objects, like information kiosks similar to those designed for the Lents area. Propel envisions rolling out four or five of them at strategic locations, at an anticipated cost of around $10,000 each.

The third level would be small-scale interventions to create pathways through the neighborhoods. These items would be much more affordable and faster to fabricate than the others. Reusable medallions could be used to imprint roads and sidewalks during repavement projects. Sign-toppers made of laser-cut steel could run as little as $10 each, Gray said.

There’s even talk of “tactical urbanism” tactics, like temporary wayfinding devices to help community members become familiar with new routes.

formally opened with a ceremony June 24, a 100-degree day. More than 1,000 people attended, most on bikes.

The moment was a great relief to Robinson, who, along with developer Ted Gilbert, spent more than a decade shepherding the project. But it served as a reminder how much work remains, she said, citing water hookups, restrooms and other work.

As for what Robinson would like the final designs to look like, she said she hasn’t decided if she’d like the arch to be incorporated in Gateway going forward.

“I’m still vacillating back and forth – should we use it, should we not use it?” she said. “I don’t think we should totally ignore it.”

The post Welcome signs: a challenge in Gateway appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland Bureau of Development Services is seeking applications from people interested in filling upcoming Portland Design Commission vacancies.

Commission Chairwoman Guenevere Millius in December will reach the end of the eight-year term limit and BDS staffers are seeking someone to fill the role, city planner Tim Heron said. Other commissioners also are nearing the end of their terms, he added.

The seven-member commission reviews design proposals for large-scale new and infill development projects in the Central City Plan District and Gateway Regional Center. Commissioners also review appeals of smaller proposals and alterations to existing structures in design overlay zones throughout the city.

Commission meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of the month. Meetings start during normal business hours, but often extend into the evening. Commissioners are expected to stay throughout meetings.

Commissioners serve four-year terms and may be reappointed once. They cannot hold a public elective office.

The vacancy created at the end of Millius’ term is for a commissioner with experience in design, engineering, financing, construction, management or development of buildings, Heron said. The commission must also include one representative of the Regional Arts and Culture Council and a representative of the public at-large.

Those interested in applying to serve on the commission can contact Heron at 503-823-7726 or tim.heron@portlandoregon.gov. can be downloaded from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement website.

The commission will appoint a new chairperson in January after Millius serves the remainder of her term, Heron said.

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The Portland Development Commission is preparing to offer money for community improvement projects in five urban renewal areas.

In July, the PDC will begin accepting applications for chunks of $775,000 it will make available in Community Livability Grants during fiscal year 2014-15. The money will be split four ways: $300,000 in the Interstate Corridor URA; $200,000 in the Downtown Waterfront and River District URAs; $200,000 in the Lents Town Center URA; and $75,000 in the Gateway URA.

The grants are intended to help pay for real property improvements that in turn help foster vibrant neighborhoods, especially in disadvantaged areas. The application process is competitive, and successful projects tend to focus on accomplishing community objectives and social equity goals – often through creation of public resources like open space, community gardens, art installations or workforce training centers, among other things.

Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, neighborhood and business associations and other neighborhood groups. Applicants must attend one of two mandatory workshops in July (times and locations to be announced), and meet minimum requirements for minority, women, disadvantaged and emerging small business participation.

To learn more, contact Carol Herzberg at 503-823-3276 or herzbergc@pdc.us. Also, visit to sign up for email notifications.

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An abandoned big-box building in Portland’s Gateway area is gaining an unlikely tenant.

is preparing to relocate its operations on Southeast Division Street into a former Circuit City space at 1700 N.E. 102nd Ave. By reusing the existing shell, the health care provider is hoping to reduce construction costs; the renovation is expected to cost between $10 million and $12 million.

But the team first had to get with the programming.

“Probably the biggest challenge of the project was to actually fit everything that they wanted inside the building,” said Brad Dehle, a principal at , the project architect. “It was about 4,000 square feet smaller than what they wanted it to be, and an addition was not going to be possible without tearing it down.”

That is because the 32,186-square-foot building is inside a design overlay zone. The shell of the building was grandfathered in; however, an addition would trigger code requirements that would make the property unusable for Kaiser Permanente.

So, Soderstrom focused on making efficient use of the interior. For instance, designers placed the pharmacy near the entrance to eliminate the need for an additional hallway. Dehle likened it to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle without a picture as a guide.

But solving the puzzle generated significant savings for the health care provider.

“It’s definitely cheaper than the ground-up development option that we looked at,” said John Sullivan, senior real estate manager for Kaiser Permanente.

The hope is that 20 to 25 percent savings can be achieved by not building new. Sullivan said the move is because of a Portland Community College campus expansion planned to start in 2014 on Kaiser Permanente’s leased Division Street space.

A year and a half ago, Sullivan began scouting for possible sites to relocate. Kaiser Permanente ultimately chose the bank-owned Circuit City property – one of 567 spaces around the nation left behind by the defunct retailer – which it purchased for a discounted price of $2.8 million.

Approximately 24,000 patients receive services at the Division Street facility. Sullivan said the Gateway location – near the nexus of interstates 84 and 205 – would make transitions easy. But it also offers other advantages.

“We see ourselves as a combination of an office user but in a retail environment,” Sullivan said. “We are trying to attract new members, and get our name brand and logo out into the public for more visibility. We feel that a retail environment is more to our advantage.”

Building upon that brand was a challenge for Soderstrom as well. Dehle said that Kaiser Permanente uses a 21-point program to foster cohesion in design and patient experience. For instance, one point asks architects to consider whether the building is visible from the street and whether it is recognizable as a Kaiser Permanente facility without a sign.

For the Gateway project, Circuit City’s iconic red triangle entryway will be removed and the entire concrete masonry building will be rewrapped in a new, beige brick veneer. Also, numerous holes will be cut in the exterior to make way for window systems, and the storefront will be reconstructed with a tall, glass vestibule.

Dehle said a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating will be sought. Two exterior garden/bio-swale areas will treat all of the building’s stormwater runoff on-site.

In addition, the facility will feature a fairly new heating and cooling method called a variable volume refrigerant system. A series of heat pumps and pipes will redistribute hot and cold air throughout the building in order to maintain a steady temperature.

Another innovative technique that Kaiser is employing is a software program by tech company that syncs building information modeling data with ongoing maintenance systems.

The project is out to bid, and construction is slated to begin within the next two months. Kaiser Permanente hopes to open the facility in early 2014.

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The city of Portland wants to put its money where its mouth is for development in the Gateway area, said Justin Douglas, senior project programs coordinator for the Portland Development Commission.

That’s why city officials are sending out a message to developers and business owners: If you build in Gateway, we will come.

This week, the city will issue a request for proposals to develop three properties in Gateway: two at the intersection of Northeast 99th Avenue and Pacific Street and one at the intersection of Northeast 102nd Avenue and Pacific Street.

As an incentive, the city is promising to move approximately 100 city employees and become a tenant for the “right” proposal.

“With an opportunity like this, it helps signal that this is not your run-of-the-mill come-one-come-all land sale,” Douglas said. “The overall goal is to expose the broader development and business community to a pretty unique opportunity in Gateway.”

The city has previously moved its employees to single-handedly spur development. In 2004, for example, the PDC moved its offices to the Mason-Ehrman Building in Old Town. However, Douglas couldn’t remember if and when the city used the strategy as an incentive for private developers.

The city’s RFP is tied to the lack of development in Gateway, according to Peter Parisot, economic development director for the Office of Mayor Sam Adams.

“What we’re trying to achieve in large part is just equity,” he said. “Gateway is an important priority for (Mayor Adams), and he wants to make sure the city is doing as much for East Portland as it is for the central core. Obviously, it’s a different landscape out there economically.”

Combined, the three properties total approximately 10 acres. Two of them, at the intersection of Northeast 99th Avenue and Pacific Street, are privately owned and have small structures on them. The other, owned by the PDC, is vacant.

The city placed no limitations or restrictions on development proposals – not even whether the structures on two of the properties should be demolished. At this point, city officials are open to a number of ideas, Parisot said.

“We’re going to market and saying, ‘Come back to us with your best idea,’ ” he said. “We haven’t put any sort of parameters on it. We’re just trying to get jobs out there.”

However, because city employees would be moved there, residential developments would probably be ruled out, Parisot said. Additionally, if a developer were to propose one large development for all three properties, another major tenant – in addition to the city – would need to be found, he added.

And, of course, a feasible proposal would need to make financial sense for the city. The leases of multiple city bureaus and offices downtown are up soon, and moves to Gateway present an opportunity for the city to pay less rent.

Developers also could receive urban renewal incentives, like project financing through various PDC programs.

The city’s hope is that incentives will demonstrate the value of developing in Gateway, one of the most transportation-friendly parts of the city, according to Douglas. It’s next to interstates 84 and 205 and offers access to MAX travel in four directions.

The area also has a large number of vacant lots. Despite its benefits and location in a URA, Gateway has suffered from a lack of development because of mishandled projects and misconceptions, according to area residents.

“People talk about there being not that many large developable sites left,” Douglas said. “A (request for proposals) like this is really intended to cast a broad net and reach out to folks that might not ordinarily think of opportunities in Gateway.”

RFP responses are required to include detailed proposal descriptions, identification of the developers, tenants and financial sources involved, and how development and operations might be paid for. Interested parties have until Oct. 2 to submit proposals, which do not need formal site development plans, such as drawings.

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